Kern Valley smothers Lady Lions 63-36
The Kern Valley varsity girls’ basketball team started the season with a strong performance on their home court. Taking on the Lady Lions of Mira Monte, the final score was 63-36.
The offense did its part and the defense locked down their opponent. The Lady Broncs broke from the gate by opening up a 10-point margin early in the contest. Jessie Bunting had the hot hand early as she scored all 11 points for Kern Valley. When the horn sounded to end the first period, the Lady Broncs had a 23-10 cushion. The trend would continue into the second. Upping the defensive pressure, Kern Valley held the Lady Lions scoreless. The offense continued to pour in the points as they finished with 14 to put the score at 37-10 when the two teams went to intermission.
Coming out of the break, the Lady Broncs kept up the defensive pressure that limited Mira Monte’s scoring opportunities. Creating turnovers, Kern Valley converted them into points as the scoreboard kept ringing. With the score sitting at 46-10, the Lady Lions tried to make a comeback as they outscored Kern Valley 14-5 down the stretch to close the gap to 52-24 at the end of the third.
The fourth was the same as the Lady Broncs stayed in control and were able to push back the rally attempt. The two teams stayed close in scoring in the fourth. Mira Monts added 12 points to their total, while the Lady Broncs scored 11 points. When the buzzer sounded to end the game. The final score read 63-36 for Kern Valley.
It was a total team effort as every member of the Lady Broncs team was able to put points on the scoreboard. They also had two players come away with double-doubles in the contest. Jessie Bunting in scoring with 24 points. She completed her double-double by pulling down 12 rebounds. Jayda Bushling put in 14 points and collected 11 steals for her double-double on the night.
Leenah Troller added six points, while Jade Montes finished with four points. Naomi Tapia and Scarlett Russell each had three points for the Lady Broncs. Elli Jeans, Ava Elliott, Emmalyn Bechtel, and McKayla Bachman scored two points apiece in the game. Ashley Plante rounded out the scoring with a made free throw for her lone point. Bushling led the team in assists with four. Elliott dished out three assists for Kern Valley.
On the boards, Troller and Elliott followed Bunting by grabbing eight rebounds. Bushling pulled down six boards, while Russell and Montes each were credited with five rebounds. Plante and Bechtel grabbed four rebounds, while Tapia and Jeans had three boards apiece. Continuing the defense, Elliot recorded eight steals. Bechtel had four steals, while Troller collected three steals. Jeans took away two steals from her opponent and Plante had one.
Kern Valley head coach Bill Gallis commenting on the game said, “It was great to be back and, on the court, to start another campaign. This year’s team has experience and youth, which should make for an exciting season. I knew the girls would be a little nervous coming out of the block, but we continued to keep up the pressure and worked through our nerves throughout the game. We had a lot of outstanding performances tonight, and I liked how we were able to rotate players constantly to stay fresh. Our starters set the tone tonight, and our role players were able to come in and continue to keep the pace up. I was very pleased with how we got to the free-throw line and made a majority of our free shots. I’m really looking forward to seeing this team grow and mesh together. It definitely was a good start, and now we just need to keep getting better each week.”
Elliott had this to say about her teammates, “I’m really excited to be playing with this new team and can’t wait to see how the rest of the season unfolds!” Teammate Bunting said, “We played really well, and I’m excited to see what this team can achieve for the rest of the season!”
The Lady Broncs competed in the Summit Tournament this past Monday through today. They take on Mammoth on the road Dec. 2.
